-- For the Conspiracy Theorists Out There --

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Every couple of months I hear from someone who thinks I may have special, privileged information relating to Ivory-bills being found. Occasionally they've even seen something on the blog they think is a hidden message of some sort. When I recently changed the icon on my Twitter account (something folks pretty routinely do from time to time), I received multiple inquiries in one day, as to what it meant... I WISH it were so!! (i.e., that there was some sort of significant, definitive evidence lurking out there beyond public purview).

I've not seen any compelling evidence that Ivory-bills will be documented ANYtime soon. In the last 5 years not a single photo sent to me has been even slightly intriguing; not a single double-knock tape emailed my way has been convincing, and only a couple of 'kent' sounds, out of MANY, have been at least a little tantalizing. The likelihood of sounds, foraging signs, or cavities (pics sent through email) being convincing of IBWO presence is minimal. What is needed, short of finding a roost or nest hole, are multiple clear, somewhat lengthy or close-up sightings, preferably by multiple and experienced sighters. And it hasn't happened... in 70 years. Is it any wonder the skeptics are legion...

Since the USFWS/Cornell/Auburn searches closed down, I've had a few, but paltry few, intriguing bits of evidence hit my Inbox (and even after all this time and discussion, I still hear from folks who have no clue that there is a confusing species, the Pileated Woodpecker, out there, or that the IBWO was never west of the Mississippi Rockies). It's fine to send along claims and pieces of "evidence" (indeed, I enjoy perusing all of it), but realize that, short of a clear photo or video, the likelihood of a very positive response back from me is slim. (Yet I still believe, for now, that a documented Ivory-bill discovery could occur in a number of locations at any time).

This is all just to say that when I write folks back that I haven't seen anything terribly promising it is only because... I truly haven't seen anything very promising (the one rumor I heard last year that I found intriguing, completely fizzled). Indeed, most of what I'm seeing increases my pessimism, except for the fact that there remains soooo much habitat still not getting much coverage. But no, there are no conspiracies afoot.

Anyway, I meant to end 2015 with Sufjan Stevens melancholy tribute to the Ivory-bill (which I try to post at least once each year)... but in the hubbub of the holidays I completely forgot, so, before January gets away...:

"In the delta sun, down in Arkansas
It's the great god bird with its altar call..."



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-- December Notes --

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Last month, writer Pat Gillum repeated an IBWO tale he told back in 2013 (it's never been clear to me if this is a piece of creative fiction or a true-life story?):

http://foreverahillbilly.blogspot.com/2015/11/conclusion-winter-of-ivory-billed.html

(and Part 1 of the tale is HERE.)

==> ADDENDUM: a reader contacted Pat and received confirmation that the above story actually happened; worth noting it takes place in a locale that, so far as I'm aware, has never received much attention.

Meanwhile, at the Project Coyote website, Mark Michaels puts some flesh on the notion, many of us hold, that Tanner likely underestimated the number of Ivory-bills remaining when he guessed there to be around 22 left in the entire Southeast at the time of his study:

http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/2015/12/14/tanner-and-population-density/

(==> ADDENDUM: Mark has now added another post regarding Tanner's conclusions here:
http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/2015/12/18/not-so-virgin-forest-the-singer-tract-myth-debunked/ )

The one thing I would add is that it is possible for a relatively long-lived creature, as I consider the IBWO to be, to exist in a state of population-equilibrium for long periods of time, neither gaining nor losing numbers (i.e., reproducing at a rate that simply replaces the number dying off). This can't go on for centuries, but for decades yes. Such a small steady-state population may remain few enough to evade detection, yet large enough to sustain itself, occasionally dispersing young to new or adjacent territories. Short of finding a roost or nest hole, dispersing birds are the most likely (though still very rare), to be spotted.

And finally, Chris Carlisle has plenty of scenic pics from one of his recent excursions around Mississippi's Pascagoula WMA:
http://www.ibwos.blogspot.com/2015/12/titan-swamp-and-woodpecker-island-to.html

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-- Heading Into Winter --

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Just a quick update to say I've heard from two of the recipients of Dean Hurliman's M-A-A-ARVELOUS Ivory-bill sculptures. Delighted that they found good, worthy homes!
And I believe Dean plans to do one more batch of them sometime next year so stay tuned if you were wanting one and missed out.

Otherwise, just Happy Holidays to all, and I'll leave you with a couple of entertaining videos... the first is just various woodpeckers foraging (the caption for some reason, includes "Ivory-billed Woodpecker," but of course they aren't included), and the second is a Pileated Woodpecker having a face-off with a chipmunk!:






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-- From the Mouths of Babes --

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-- IBWO Wood Carvings... WOW! --

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A midwestern duck carver named Dean Hurliman emailed me a short while back about a limited number of Ivory-bill wood carvings (IBWO in flight) he has in the works and willing to give away! I've often admired the work of duck carvers, and the above previous samples by Dean look darn impressive!

With his permission, I've posted below his initial email to me, followed by an original poem he sent along later (I've removed his physical address, but if you're interested and wish to contact him for further info his email address is:

faithluth[AT]gmail.com

*******************************************

I am a duck carver  who has an interest in IBWs having been to Arkansas twice on private searches.  I will complete three full-size carvings of flying IBWs late this winter.  I do not sell my birds, they are given away, postage paid.  But, only to fanatics, partisans, true believers, etc.  (I shed tears when rediscovery was announced.)  You seem to fit the profile.

You may E-mail me if interested, but to receive a bird, a letter of enthusiasm is required.

Lord God Bird

At last, elusive

holy grail!

Lord God

it was a thrill.

To hear the loud,

tin trumpet call,

and listen

to him drill.

To see aflight

among the pines,

the legend

living still.

A scarlet crowned

woodpecker

with ivory

for a bill!

    DSH  copyright 2011

*******************************************

Since receiving all this I looked Dean up on the Web and found a short blurb on page 2 of a local newsletter referencing him and mentioning that he has also done Pileated Woodpeckers and Passenger Pigeons (including picture of one of his Pileateds -- looks beautiful! -- link no longer available).  I'm amazed by both his talent and his generosity. If you're truly interested I'd contact him soon since I can't imagine these three carvings will take long to find homes they deserve!
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-- Weekly Bits... --

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Fellow planning a future trip to Cuba to look for the Cuban Ivory-bill:
http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/former-malibu-mayor-seeks-photograph-cuban-woodpecker

Lots of nice pics from the Carlisles' latest excursion in the Pascagoula (MS.):
http://www.ibwos.blogspot.com/2015/09/across-pascagoula-otter-pond-and-beyond.html

Elsewhere, Mark Michaels' points out this 7-min. Cornell clip of a foraging Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Panama Campephilus species, smaller than a Pileated). Gives some inkling of what watching an Ivory-bill might be like:
http://macaulaylibrary.org/video/515105

My prior request to hear from any folks who continue to get in occasional searches brought responses from areas I already knew were getting some attention, so I'd still be interested to hear of any less prominent or publicized areas that someone is checking???

ADDENDUM:  some folks have emailed me about an "Expeditions With Patrick McMillan" episode on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (30 mins.) showing on their PBS channels this week. I don't own a TV(!) so didn't see it, but as far as I can tell this was actually recorded back in 2010, and is just a replay. I couldn't find it freely available on the Web anywhere, but if someone knows that it is, let us know.
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-- Where Oh Where --

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Used to hear privately from folks doing occasional independent searches, but have heard very little in last year-or-more, and am curious what (if any) areas might still be getting checked (that aren't being reported on the Web)... even if you've seen nothing worth reporting.  So if any searchers have looked, even for just a weekend or two, in say the last 12 months, I'd like to get a better sense of which locales were involved... or, if someone has definite unannounced search plans for the coming winter months.

Am especially surprised to have heard almost nothing from the Congaree (S.C.), or classic sites like the Apalachicola (FL.), Atchafalaya (LA.), or Big Thicket (TX.) in last year (since I know individuals do still occasion those spots). But there are plenty of other areas as well, or if you've looked in some more offbeat region (western Tenn., SE Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama...) I'd be curious to know of that.  Email:  cyberthrush[AT]gmail.com

p.s... those folks who have written in the past to tell me of their IBWO sightings in Canada, Massachusetts, New York, Washington state, Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado... probably don't need to update me ;-)
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-- September Already --

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Sorry, for long delay in posting anything but the IBWO dribs and drabs I'm getting just haven't seemed newsy enough to expend time on lately.  I should probably post something though just to let folks know I'm still alive... at least as of my last pulse-check.

Have noticed some recent edits to the Wikipedia entry for Ivory-billed Woodpecker; nothing significant, just odd to see folks even bothering at this late date; including some back-and-forth changes of the verb "was" to "is," back to "was," and back to "is" again. ;-) (As a former President once told us, I guess it all "depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is".)

Anyway, from other Web press there was this oddball retrospective summary in terribly broken English:
http://asiascoop.com/index.php/2015/08/26/extinction-and-the-ivory-billed-woodpecker/

And the Project Coyote group continues their Web-reporting from Louisiana:
http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Coyote-Independent-Ivory-billed-Woodpecker-Searches-in-Louisiana/490140627755589?fref=ts

Finally, painter John Ruthven, involved in the Arkansas and Florida searches, gave this talk to a local Ohio group recently (and mentions he'll be going back to the Choctawhatchee in November to search again):



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-- Some of Us Can Relate... --

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Feel like I should post something before the month ends, so here's a quick story of a man with an obsession, that some of us understand better than others:

http://rethinkrural.com/Blog/PostId/52/close-encounters-of-the-bird-kind#/images/1

(somewhere in South Georgia)
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-- ....and more --

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Further update on the Big Cypress wildfire here:

http://www.nbc-2.com/clip/11548586/big-cypress-wildfires-span-35000-acres-more-land-needs-to-burn

Meanwhile, don't know quite what this project is all about (but it won't make verifying Ivory-bill videos any easier!!), have come across this recent "animatronic" addition to YouTube:




(...and they have a second clip from the lab here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aepxT4ZUYrc )

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-- South Florida Burning --

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The largest wildfire currently burning in the U.S. is unfortunately at The Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida (sandwiched between the Everglades and the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve), with over 35,000 of the Preserve's 700,000+ acres burned.  Started by lightning strikes earlier in the month, weeks later, it is still only half-contained. Smoke from the now multiple fires has carried 100+ miles to other Florida cities. More here:

http://www.coastalbreezenews.com/2015/05/28/wildfire-in-big-cypress/

http://www.winknews.com/2015/05/28/largest-wildfire-in-u-s-continues-to-burn-30-miles-from-naples/

The Big Cypress was home to Ivory-bills in the distant past, and even the setting for a 1996 novel about Ivory-bill rediscovery.



Best of luck to the firefighters and all involved!....
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-- Anniversary --

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In honor of the 10-year anniversary of the announcement that Ivorybills had been rediscovered, Arkansas Online ran a piece including updates with Gene Sparling and David Luneau:
http://tinyurl.com/kna7wb7
(unfortunately, nothing new to report though)

On a sadder note, Mark Michaels relates the recent death of Edith Kuhn Whitehead, daughter of J.J. Kuhn, perhaps one of the most under-appreciated heroes and experts in the entire Ivory-bill saga:
http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/2015/04/27/in-memory-edith-kuhn-whitehead/
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-- Fantasies ;-)) --

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While awaiting any other news, perhaps just some entertainment today... 'tis the season of avian webcams. Bird nestcams are among the most wonderful, extraordinary uses of the internet. My favorite nestcams are of hummingbirds and Barn Owls (also enjoy European white storks on rooftops), but there are many other fabulous ones including eagles, falcons, Ospreys, Barred and Great Horned Owls, penguins, and other species (including this year a popular Laysan Albatross nest). The best cams are live in real time, and often even include infrared photography for night viewing... a world that was largely hitherto unknown to scientists has been revealed by all this gadgetry.

The site below lists a GREAT MANY birdcams, though not sure how many of them are currently active:
http://www.beakspeak.com/index.php/birdcams/

Two of my own favorites are this Allen's Hummingbird in California:
http://www.bellahummingbird.com/

and these Barn Owls in Texas:
http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/42/Barn_Owls/

The famous Decorah Bald Eagle nest in Iowa though has long been a crowd-pleaser as well:
http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

(WARNING: these sites are addictive)
 
I mention all of this because of recently noting to an emailer my own personal fantasy for Ivory-bills from the last couple years... no reason not to share it, runs like this:

I wake up one morning and an email note, or science news headline, or an RSS feed, or instant message, or whatever, directs me to a new webpage... yeah, you guessed it, it's a live-stream website of a remote camera, deep in green-laden woods, on an Ivory-bill nest cavity. The parents fly in and out; two chicks occasionally pop their heads out the hole and look around... it's live, it's real, it's high-definition and it hardly even requires explanation.
There's no announcement from Wash. DC.; no friggin' article in a science journal; no press conference from the Cornell Lab; no ornithologists in research-disclosure mode; and definitely no description of where this location is; just the unmistakable visual evidence that nobody can discount and everyone can partake in 24/7 (...and a whole LOT of birders calling in to work sick for the following week)... ohh, and hey, maybe there's a banner above the page that reads: "Ivory-bills LIVE!!!" ;-)))

We can all fantasize.... (although as my emailer properly warns, marriages might be imperiled, if there ever actually was an IBWO nestcam!... be careful what you wish for ;-).
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-- That Old Reward...? --

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Many will remember the $50,000 reward offered in the course of the Arkansas Big Woods search for information that led wildlife officials to a living Ivory-billed Woodpecker. As far as I'm aware that reward STILL STANDS. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know (if it's changed or rescinded). Though the reward was initiated in Arkansas, I believe it applied to proof of the Ivory-bill's persistence ANYwhere (in the U.S.), and required one to lead officials to a living bird (simply providing photos/video or any other evidence, no matter how conclusive, was not enough, unless it led to a location of individual birds).
I also believe at least part of the reward was provided by a single private individual (who I assume, but am not certain, is still around).

Anyway, just want to nail that all down, since I consistently use the reward as an inducement to people who write me with claims of Ivory-bills, but don't realize the necessity of getting a photo/video (to get wildlife officials to pursue a report). Those claimants who write to me from Oregon, or Washington state, or Massachusetts, or Canada ;-) probably won't have much luck, but couple times a year someone writes from an area, and with enough detail, that I can't so easily discount, and a $$$ incentive may encourage them if they believe enough in their own claims.
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-- No, Nope, Nada --

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Which is to say, thus far I've not found anything adding weight to a rumor previously referenced. Most folks writing me are speculating or making guesses about things I don't have answers for, since the rumor is so undetailed. All I'm really looking for is someone familiar enough with it to say it is bogus or already dispelled... OR, is still being actively followed-up on (will worry about additional details later). Anyway, will keep checking around a bit, but for the moment, not putting much weight on it.

Meanwhile, noticed that another site has re-posted an older podcast on cryptic/extinct animals which includes a segment with Cornell's John Fitzpatrick talking about the IBWO (that I've linked to previously). May be worth a re-listen. Fitzpatrick's segment begins at a little past the 26-minute point, and proceeds for about 11 minutes.
direct download here:  http://tinyurl.com/k7ae7um

or, it comes from this Webpage:
http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Monster_Mashup

(I believe the recorded treetop call Fitz references from 2008-9, came from the Congaree in SC., though it sorta sounds from the interview context as if it was from the Big Woods, Arkansas, so am uncertain about that.) [...A respondent now writes me that the '08-9 audio was indeed from Ark. The somewhat similar incident I'm thinking of from the Congaree may have been 2010.  In checking my loose, disorganized notes looks like the Congaree case was spring of 2007.]
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-- 10 Years and Counting --

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"Every time my cell phone rang I expected it to be from someone in the bayou saying ‘We got it!'
The days were long but the excitement was in the air – it was just electric. It was thrilling to be with birders and impassioned conservationists all working together in the hunt to rediscover this bird that had been thought to be extinct." 

-- Cornell's Ron Rohrbaugh speaking about the original Big Woods search for the IBWO

We're approaching the 10-year anniversary of the USFWS/Cornell announcement that, for a short while back-in-the-day, set the birding world aglow. Meanwhile, not much good search-time remaining in the current search season.

I assume most readers continue to follow along Mark and Frank's searches in central La. Their last two search-entries here:

http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/2015/04/06/trip-report-part-one-march-31-april-5-2015/
http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/2015/04/08/1184/

and an additional new post on bark scaling here:
http://projectcoyoteibwo.com/1087-2/

As long as I'm citing Web material, should probably mention that Mike Collins continues to upload IBWO-related videos/mini-talks (on various aspects of the controversy) to his own YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/IBWOvids/videos

Finally, I don't usually go public with such things, but have been trying without success (unlike in prior times) to nail down a loose, vague, non-public, slightly intriguing rumor that crossed my screen in March. If anyone knows something about it and can pass along any info (in confidence) to flesh it out a bit, would appreciate it: cyberthrush{AT}gmail{DOT}com  
Likely nothing to it, or it's already been dispelled, but would be nice to clear off my radar if that's the case... or, if still being pursued, to at least know that that is the case (...no need for guessing, and am unable to spell out any further details unfortunately, but if you've heard it, then you probably know the one I mean without any further details).  Vast majority of rumors I receive go nowhere, and this one is likely no different, but....

...On a complete sidenote, I was recently checking around for more recent pics/examples (since last time I checked) of leucistic Pileated Woodpeckers and lo-and-behold there's a doozy from just a month ago in Iowa:

http://ladagephotography.com/developer/2015/03/14/kips-comments-3-14-15/

(not a bird that could be mistaken for an IBWO, but just a gorgeous bird in its own right!)
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-- Geoff Hill Returns to the Choc. --

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By coincidence, while checking up on some current Ivory-bill doings, I just learned that Auburn's Geoff Hill started a new general ornithology blog last week, and it begins with his return to the Choctawhatchee last month after a multi-year absence. Nice pics, and good to hear from him, and his return to the swamp, if only sporadically!:

http://www.ornithologistsblog.com/#!Back-to-the-Swamp/cmbz/55145ef90cf21d84af58d771

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-- Of Pileated Poopology --

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Back when the major IBWO search was underway one possibility considered was to look for feathers from suspected-activity sites that might prove, through DNA analysis, to be Ivory-billed.  I don't recall what, if any other remnants for DNA analysis, were seriously considered at the time? And am not sure how practical it is to tease out from the various DNA in bird droppings the specific bird species involved. Anyway, just passing along this Julie Zickefoose post in which, about half-way down, she instructs on finding Pileated poop below Pileated workings:

http://juliezickefoose.blogspot.com/2015/03/dogbombed-again-plus-pileated-poop-how.html

I've often looked below Pileated excavations myself for feathers without success, and never even noticing poop being prevalent, but will have to look more closely next time.

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